Machine for cleaning textile fabric articles



May 11, 1954 P. w. DOUGLAS MACHINE FOR CLEANING TEXTILE FABRIC ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Feb. 23, 1945 WAN .M.

INVENTOR PEYTDN W D UUBLAS m? W y 11, 1954 P. w. DOUGLAS 2,677,950

MACHINE FOR CLEANING TEXTILE FABRIC ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Feb. 25, 1945 INVENTOR. PEY'ruN WT DOUGLAS 3m? I M Patented May 11, 1954 games MACHINE FOR CLEANING TEXTILE FABRIC ARTICLES Peyton W. Douglas, Syracuse, N. Y.

Original application Febr 57 9,453. Divided uary 23, 1945, Serial No. and this application November 14, 1952, Serial No. 320,380

6 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for cleaning textile fabric articles, and more particularly to such machines including provisions for supporting the movable parts in such a manner as to facilitate inspection of the articles during the cleaning process.

Many machines for cleaning or washing textile fabric articles include cleaning, followed by draining the chamber and rotating the article container at a high speed, that is, spinning the articles for centrifugally drying them.

There has been the problem in machines of e type described of inspecting articles during the cleaning process to determine the progress of the cleaning cycle, the condition of the cleaning fluid, etc. In general, the necessary sup porting provisions of the article container have a either directly concealed the interior of the article container or have interfered with the provisions for inspecting the interior.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a new for overcoming the above-mentioned limita tions on machines of the prior art.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved machine for cleaning textile fabric articles, including provisions for continuously inspecting the articles, and the cleaning fluid during the cleaning process.

In accordance with the invention, a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles comprises a cleaning fluid chamber, a rotatable article container disposed within the chamber, driving Vinylite.

rotatable article container comprises a drum-like member having imperforate side walls, an imperforate first end wall, a foraminous second end wall, a supporting spider secured to the second end of the member, and supporting bearing elements mounted in the first end wall and in the spider. The term foraminous is used herein and in the appended claims to refer to an article in the form of a grid, mesh, screen, perforated sheet, or equivalent.

Further in accordance with the invention, in a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles a cleaning unit comprises a cleaning fluid chamber including at least one transparent end wall and a rotatable article container of the type described, together with complementary bearing elements disposed in the end walls of the chamber and rotatably supporting the container.

For a better understanding of the invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings while its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying the invention for cleaning textile fabric articles and shown without a housing cabinet; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of Fig. 1; and is a detailed view of the friction dampeners of the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is represented a machine embodying the invention for Washing or cleaning textile fabric articles. This machine comprises a unitary chassis made up of a frame I ll having up- M, depending from and secured to the frame I0, and all additional conventional accessories, such as a drain l5, a pump I6, a solenoid-operated control valve i'l, etc. The cleaning fluid chamber H may be conventional in general form and is shown as comprising a cylindrical drum like member having one end wall Ila of glass or transparent thermo-setting plastic material, such as a vinyl chloride commercially available as The end wall I la is secured to the drum l l by a suitable retaining ring ll b. The chamber H is also provided with an upstanding throat llc through which the articles to be cleaned may be inserted and removed.

The rotatable article container I 2 is constructed in the form of a frusto-conical drum-like member having imperforate side walls and an imporforate end wall 12a of smaller diameter, the end wall i212 of larger diameter being in the form of a wire mesh or other foraminous sheet secured to the side walls of the container i2 by means of a supportirn spider 120 having an annular outer periphery secured to the container l2. Disposed within the container l2 are a plurality of agitators or impellers l2d, within the container during the cleaning process. The container i2 is also provided with a number of sliding doors 12c disposed peripherally about the side walls to facilitate insertion and removal of articles whenever any of the several doors l2e stops in registry with the throat I l'cof the cleaning fluid chamber. The article container 12 is also provided with supporting bearing elements, such as the journals !2,, one mounted on the end wall Era. of smaller diameter and the other mounted on the spider i2c. Complementary bearing elements, for example sleeve bearings Hd, are mounted on the end walls of the cleaning fluid chamber i i and rotatably support the article container l2 within the chamber.

The unitary chassis comprising the cleaning fluid chamber H and the frame it also includes the conventional accessory elements of a cleaning machine of this type. In addition to the riving motors [3, M, drain !5,.drain pump 16 and drain valve ll it includes other conventional accessory elements necessary for operation of the machine. For example, in order to drive the shai t l2 of the article container at a relatively low speed during cleaning and at a relatively high speed during spinning or drying, one of the motors, for example the motor !3, is connected through a speedreducing pulley on a jack shaft (not shown) to a driving pulley l8 by means of a V-belt lBa or equivalent driving means while the other motor M is connected to drive the container l2 at high speed through a direct V-belt drive lfia, to a driving pulley IQ. Interposed between the pulleys l8 and I9 is an overrunning clutch which permits high speed operation of the container [2 without driving the low speed pulley i8 and its associated motor at the higher speed. This two-speed drive comprises one of the features of the invention disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 579,452, filed February 23, 1945, now

abandoned.

In order to introduce cleaning fluid, for example water of the proper temperature, into the chamber 4 i, there are provided a hot water connection 2;} and a cold water connection 2| leading to a solenoid-operated mixing valve 22 having an outlet connection 22a which connects through a suitably packed bore through the shaft Hi to a nozzle 23. The drain pump it connected to the drain it through the valve ll lta from one of the motors, for example the lowspeed motor i3, and is provided with an outlet connection illb leading to an external drain hose or pipe. Thus, the units i-23, inclusive, comprise a single, rigid, unitary structure including all the essential elements of a cleaning machine, the only relative motion being the rotation of the article container i2 through one or the other of the pulleys it or is by means of its associated motor.

The cleaning machine of the invention also includes a supporting base or frame 24 for resiliently supporting the unitary chassis just described. For this purpose there are preferably provided a plurality of planar spiral thrust-taking for tumbling the articles is driven by a pulley springs 25 disposed approximately symmetrically about the center of gravity of the cleaning fluid chamber l I when containing the usual amount of cleaning fiuid and the usual. charge of articles to be cleaned, the springs 25 constituting the sole supporting means between the base 24 and the chassis and, therefore, the chamber H thereon. Specifically, the chamber H has a. substantially rectangular section at its plane of support, the base 24 is rectangular and surrounds the chamber H and its supporting chassis, and one of the springs 25 is disposed at each of the corners of this section of the chamber H. The base or external end 25a of each of the springs 25 is attached to the base 24 while the nucleus or internal end 251) is attached to the container H as by a pivot pin 250.

The springs 25 are planar; that is, being of spiral form, their principal dimension lies in one plane. Considering each of the springs as ideally lying in a plane, the springs all lie in parallel planes, the two front springs lying in one plane and the two rear springs in a second plane. This form of resilient mounting imparts to the chassis and to the cleaning fluid chamber i l a freedom of motion primarily in different directions in a plane parallel in the planes of the springs 25.

In order to limit the movement of the chassis and the cleaning fluid chamber H in directions other than in a plane parallel to the planes of the springs 25 and to retard or damp the movements thereof in this plane, particularly when the rotatable article container is passing through its critical speed, there are provided a plurality of r friction dampeners 26 interposed between the chassis and the base 24 and disposed to damp the motion of the chassis in such plane, which is also a plane parallel to the plane including the lines of thrust of the front and rear pairs of springs. The details of two of the friction dampeners are represented in Fig. 3 from which it is seen that each of the dampeners 26 comprises a friction disk Zta, which may be of a material similar to conventional automobile brake blocks. Each of the disks 26a is adjusted to bear upon and make a frictional engagement with one of the side panels lea of the chassis frame It or a plate-like member supported therefrom, the pressure of the disk 26a on the member lOa being adjusted by means of a threaded stud or shaft 261) threaded in an auxiliary frame member lb and locked in its adjusted position by means of a lock nut 260. The member Iflb is effectively a relatively stiff leaf spring'and is effective primarily to provide the necessary force between the friction surfaces of the damper and secondarily to permit low-amplitude oscillations or movements-of the chassis H) in directions transverse to its normal plane of oscillation, as sometimes results from rotational oscillation of the chamber I I about a vertical axis.

The cleaning machine described above is adapted to be disposed in a suitable enclosing housing 21. The housing 21 is provided with a sliding top door 27a adapted to register with one of the peripheral sliding doors 52c cf the article container !2 and having an inner door 21b through which soap or other detergent material may be introduced into the cleaning fluid chamber l l without opening the door 27a. The housing Z'ia is also provided with a circular opening 21c surrounded by an inwardly extending flange 21d and registering with the transparent end wall 4 la of the cleaning fluid chamber i l, whereby the operation of the machine may be inspected chamber H or the articles to be cleaned may be during the cleaning process. If desired, a series of control switches 28 may be mounted on a pane1 28a and extend through the front of the casing 27 to control the various devices of the cleaning machine, for tor I3, the spinning motor I4, the solenoid mixing valve 22, and the solenoid drain valve I1. There is also provided a swinging door He registering with a cleanout tray Ia of thedrain I5 to permit removal of the tray I 511 for cleaning and removal of articles trapped therein.

It is believed that the operation of the cleaning machine of the invention will be understood from the foregoing description. In brief, however,

inserted in the container I2 and water of moderate temperature, for example about 90 F., may be admitted through the mixing valve 22 and the nozzle 23 until the chamber II is filled to an appropriate level. The articles may then be allowed to soak for an appropriate interval, for example ten minutes, whereupon the drain valve I 7 and the drain pump I5 are operated to drain the soaking water from the chamber II. The drain valve is then closed and water of a higher temperature, for example 140 F., admitted to the chamber II to an appropriate level and soap or other suitable detergent is introduced through the door 21b. The washing motor I3 is operated to rotate the article container I2 for the washing cycle, which may be of a period of from five to twenty minutes, depending upon the nature and condition of the articles being cleaned. The drain pump I6 and drain valve I1 are then operated to release the washing water from the container and one or more batches of rinsing water may be introduced and successively drained. The rinsing of the articles is facilitated by the particular arrangement of the nozzle 23 and the foraminated end wall I2b of the article container. The nozzle 23 is eifective to flush any dirty suds from the surface of the articles within the container I2 and from the end wall I2b and into the drain I 5, thus preventing the collection or depositing of such dirty suds upon the articles or other parts of the machine.

After washing and rinsing as described, the drain valve I7 and drain pump I6 are operated and the article container I2 is rotated at high speed by spinning the motor I4 to spin-dry the articles in the container I2. The articles may then be removed in a damp state for further drying or ironing or other treatment.

With the construction described, it is to be noted that all of the relatively moving parts and all the essential elements of the cleaning machine form a part of a single, rigid, unitary chassis and that this chassis is supported as a whole from the base 24. As a result, any vibration due to the rotation of the article container I2 results in a the unitary chassis as a whole, rather than relative vibration between different components thereof, thus minimizing strains on the several operating parts.

Further, by mounting the interior chassis at the four points symmetrically spaced about the approximate center of gravity of the chamber I I, the vibration is confined substantially to a median plane through the machine parallel to the planes of the example, the washing moilarly that the dampeners 26 substantially uniformly dampen the vibratory motion in all directions in this plane while limiting any incidental vibratory motion which might tend to arise in any other plane. Preferably, the unit is constructed with relatively soft springs proportioned to support the load imposed upon them. Pressure on the friction surfaces of the damp eners 26 is best adjusted by experiment to the minimum necessary substantially to limit the vibratory motion of the chamber II when the article container I2 is passing through its critical rotational speed. For example, each of the springs 25 may be of stock spring material, 1 inch wide, 4 inch thick in diameter, each spring being 2 /2 turns, as illus-- trated. The result of this particular construc- Further, the registration of the opening 210 in the housing 21 with the transparent end wall Ila of the cleaning fluid chamber II and the wiremesh end wall I2b of the article container I2 washing action is accomplished with a minimum of suds.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles, a rotatable article container comprising, a frusto-conical drum-like member having imperiorate side walls, an imperforate end wall of smaller diameter, a foraminous end wall of larger diameter supporting bearing elements mounted on said end walls, and fluid inlet means at said imperforate end wall located axially of said container.

2. In a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles, a rotatable article container comprising, a frusto-conical drum-like member having imperforate side walls, an imperforate end wall of smaller diameter, a foraminous wall of larger ameter end wall and on said spider, and fluid inlet means at said imperforate end wall located axially of said container.

3. In a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles, a rotatable article container comprising, a frusto-conical drum-like member having imperforate side walls, an imperforate end wall of smaller diameter, an end wall of larger diameter ameter end wall and on said spider, and fluid inlet means at said imperforate end wall located axially of said container.

4. In a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles, a rotatable article container comprising, a frusto-conical drum-like member having imperforate side walls, an imperforate end wall of smaller diameter, a foraminous end wall of larger diameter, a supporting spider secured to said larger diameter end of said member, supporting journals mounted on said smaller diameter end wall and on said spider, and fluid inand approximately 8 inches.

ticles, a cleaning unit comprising,

' plementary let means at said imperforate end wall located axially of said container.

.5. In a machine for cleaning textile fabric ara cleaning fluid chamber including at least one transparent end wall, a rotatable frusto-conical drum-like (article container disposed within said container and having imperforate side walls, an imperforate first end wall, a foraminous second end wall, .a supportingspider secured to said second end of said container, bearing elements mounted on said first end wall and on said spider, combearing elements mounted on the end walls of said chamber and rotatably supporting said container, and fluid inlet means at said first I end wall located axially of said container.

6. In a machine for cleaning textile fabric articles, a cleaning unit comprising, a cleaning secured to said larger :fluid chamber-including at least one transparent end wall, a rotatable frusto-conical drum-like article container disposed within said container and having imperforate side walls, an imperforate end wall of smaller diameter, a foraminous end wall of larger diameter, a supporting spider diamter end of said container, and bearing elements mounted on said smaller diameter end wall and on said spider, complementary bearing elements mounted on the end walls of said'chamber and rotatably supporting said container, said foraminous end wall of said container being disposed adjacent said transparent chamber end wall, and fluid inlet means at said imperforateend wall located axially of said container.

No references cited. 

